High approval for Watson, very high approval for Bordeleau

Gangs, traffic, and guns are biggest
concerns; just one tenth very satisfied with council

TORONTO
December 21st, 2015 - In a random sampling of public opinion taken
by the Forum Poll™ among 812 Ottawa voters, as many as three quarters approve
of the job Jim Watson is doing as mayor (73%), and this is especially the case
among the mid aged (35 to 44 - 79%), the wealthiest (77%), and those with the
highest education (post grad - 80%). Approval for police chief Charles
Bordeleau is even higher (80%) and is especially common to the oldest (84%),
the wealthiest (89%)and the best educated (post grad - 82%).

Gangs are biggest concern, followed by
traffic and guns

Voters
are asked their level of concern about issues in Ottawa. The issue which raises
the highest level of concern (46% very concerned) is youth gangs, and this fear
is especially common to the oldest (55+ - 60%), property owners (51%) and the
least educated (57%).

Next
on the list is traffic congestion (44% very concerned) and this is
characteristic of older voters (55 to 64 - 48%), higher income ($80K to $100K -
48%) and those with some college or university (49%).

Traffic
is followed by the availability of guns in the city (42% very concerned), especially
among the oldest (55+ - 62%), females (46%), mid income groups ($40K to $60K -
46%) and among the less educated (some college or less - 51%).

Ottawa
voters are asked if they are satisfied with the progress being made on the LRT
project, and one fifth are very satisfied (21%), while 6-in-10 are satisfied
overall (60%). The service levels on OC Transpo fare more poorly here and just
more than one tenth are very satisfied (14%). Satisfaction is highest among
those who use transit weekly (25%), which is also the case for satisfaction
with the progress of the LRT (25%). City council draws satisfaction from just
one tenth of voters (12%), although those with the most positive views tend to
be wealthier ($80K to $100K - 20%), the less wealthy ($20K to $40K - 23%) and
mothers (18%).

Majority approve of Communism Memorial
decision

A
majority of Ottawa voters agree with the decision to relocate the Victims of
Communism memorial from the planned location to the Garden of the Provinces and
Territories (51%), and just 3-in-10 disapprove of this decision (30%). One
fifth have no opinion (19%).

“While it is encouraging that traffic
congestion is a greater concern than guns, yet, the low ratings for
satisfaction given city transit, and city council, should set alarm bells
ringing,” said Forum Research President, Dr. Lorne Bozinoff.

Lorne Bozinoff, Ph.D. is the president and
founder of Forum Research. He can be reached at lbozinoff@forumresearch.com
or at (416) 960-9603.